The UC College of Medicine is continuing its upward path in cutting-edge research to enhance discovery sciences and facilitate translation of these discoveries to improve health and clinical care while recruiting new faculty. The new undergraduate program fosters scientific curiosity and investigation for our students. We are creating an environment of advanced clinical care that surpasses any in the region.

The Center for Integrative Health and Wellness promotes the value of treating the whole person and works to provide evidence-based wellness initiatives across the Academic Health Center and into the community through education, research and clinical care.

The College of Medicine has identified four institutes in which we have outstanding quality, a track record of success, opportunities for funding and ability to advance translational research and deliver high-quality personalized care.

The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine is known for its strong educational programs. From medical degrees to summer research programs, the College of Medicine offers some of the most innovative and captivating science and research opportunities in the nation.

Historical Breakthroughs

The UC College of Medicine has a rich history of discovery and innovation. Among many things, faculty here are credited with:

Development of the first live, attenuated polio vaccine (Albert Sabin, MD, 1960s)

Creation of the first heart-lung machine (Samuel Kaplan, MD, 1951)

First use of the YAG laser for vaporizing previously inoperable brain tumors (John Tew, MD, 1984)

Identification of the protein vital for lungs to properly function but lacking in babies born early and the later development of a treatment for these immature lungs (Jeffrey Whitsett, MD).

UC scientists working at the College of Medicine are among the nation’s pioneers in stroke treatment studies and contributed to the development of NovoSeven, a recombinant clotting factor for the treatment of brain hemorrhage caused by stroke.

And College of Medicine scientists are national leaders for their study on the health effects of lead in children.

In 1938, UC cancer researcher and pharmacologist E.W. Wallace was among the country's first 10 awardees from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which has since become a major supplier of university research funding.

Significant Contributions to Medicine

First Live, Attenuated Polio Vaccine

The UC Academic Health Center is probably best known for the development of the first live, attenuated polio vaccine.
Albert B. Sabin, MD, worked on the project both at UC and the affiliated Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical
Center. Approved for use in the United States in the late 1960s, the vaccine has saved untold millions around the
world from paralytic polio and death.

UC Stroke Team Pioneers Treatment

The Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Stroke Team at UC is among the nation’s pioneers in tPA studies and established
a protocol for quick diagnosis and treatment. UC scientists also contributed to the development of NovoSeven, a recombinant
clotting factor for the treatment of brain hemorrhage caused by stroke.

Health Effects of Lead in Children

UC was the first university-based environmental research facility to become nationally known for its studies of the health
effects of lead in children, and our department of environmental health was one of the first to test a chelation
drug that effectively removed high lead levels from the bloodstream.

Study of Birth Defects Pioneered

The late pediatrics professor Josef Warkany, MD, is regarded as the “father of teratology” (the biological
study of birth defects), and his book “Congenital Malformations” (1981) is considered a medical classic,
as it was the first to associate causes, not mere chance, with birth defects

Heart Failure Gene Identified

A UC team received international attention in 2002 when it identified two genes that convey a risk of heart failure 10
times greater than that faced by people who do not carry the gene, and that by far the greater risk was in African-Americans.

Development of Benadryl

The popular antihistamine marketed as Benadryl was developed at UC by the late professor George Rieveschl, PhD.

Saving Preemies

UC pediatrics professor Jeffrey Whitsett, MD, identified a protein that was both vital for lungs to operate and lacking
in babies born early, which led to a routine treatment for immature lungs and respiratory distress syndrome in premature
infants.

Sniffing Out Disease

UC researchers Robert Frank, PhD, and Robert Gesteland, PhD, invented a test to measure how well a person can detect
an odor, which in turn can flag brain damage early in the progression of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
diseases.

First Residency Programs

UC had the first emergency medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation residency programs in the United States.
UC also was one of the first in the United States to introduce a family practice residency program, thus pioneering
the return of the “family doctor” to U.S. health-care delivery.

First Residency Programs

UC had the first emergency medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation residency programs in the United States.
UC also was one of the first in the United States to introduce a family practice residency program, thus pioneering
the return of the “family doctor” to U.S. health-care delivery.

Guidelines for Treating Heart Failure

In 1994 and 1995, Michael Bottorf, PharmD, of UC’s James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy, helped develop national
and state guidelines for the treatment of heart failure.

First Medical Laser Lab

The late dermatology professor Leon Goldman, MD, considered the “father of laser medicine,” opened the country’s
first medical laser laboratory at UC in 1961.

First YAG Laser Used

In 1984, neurosurgery professor John Tew, MD. became the country’s first surgeon to receive FDA approval to use
the YAG laser to vaporize previously inoperable brain tumors.

Organ Transplant Discovery

In 1989, UC researchers discovered that the drug ketoconazole made cyclosporin work more effectively, lowering the amount
needed to prevent rejection of a transplanted organ.

Pioneering Gene Therapy

In 1990, under the direction of neurosurgeon Ronald Warnick, MD, UC became one of the first four centers in the country
to use gene therapy for the treatment of recurring brain tumors.

Cancer Gene Discoveries

In 1995, UC researchers isolated a gene that leads to an increased risk of colon cancer, which may lead to understanding
how people inherit a predisposition to the disease.